A Lesson in Chemistry

Raymond Balter

01/29/2008

Until quite recently, Rutgers appeared to be a team going nowhere fast. The Scarlet Knights lost to both St Peter's and Rider, and were 0-6 in Big East play. Then RU thumped Villanova at home in a game they never trailed, and then traveled to Pittsburgh to hand the Panthers only their 9th home loss in 100 games. Both wins were by double-digits. Why has this happened? SOR takes a look at why.

Basketball is a truly unique game. Like any sport, individual skills are obviously
necessary, and players that can take over a game stand out. However, unlike football,
and especially baseball, it's also a game that when played at its highest level
is a game of interaction. The degree to which this is the case is indeed much
more so than in any other sport. Hall of Fame coach Al McGuire once said you play
the five guys who play the best together as a team, not your five best players.
If you want proof, take a look at any team that ever wins a championship in basketball,
be it high school, college, or the NBA. It's a virtual certainty that any championship
team, at any of these levels, is a team in the truest sense of the word. Each
player knows what his role is, and everyone is on the same page. There is no bickering
about someone taking too many shots or someone not getting enough shots- and if
there is, it's less so than on other teams. The defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs are a classic example of this.
Developing this harmonious balance - commonly referred to as good team chemistry
- is often quite difficult. The NBA is a league that is somewhat notorious for
the individual, sometimes outright selfish, play of many of its members. This
includes some of the leagues greatest players, with Kobe Bryant being perhaps
the most notable. Here's a player who may have actually resented sharing the spotlight
by playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal in his prime (keep in mind that this pairing
resulted in three NBA titles).
He only lately seems to have changed. As Dave D'Alessandro wrote recently in the
Newark Star Ledger: "Kobe Bryant is having his worst statistical year since
the dynasty broke up, but because he has learned to shaddap and go with the flow,
the Lakers are having their best year." Many basketball fans are aware of
this propensity among NBA players - it is, after all, a league that is all about
its stars. The degree to which such a mindset is prevalent on the amateur level
might surprise some people.

To fully understand this, consider the events surrounding one of the most special
memories that many Rutgers basketball fans have: the 1988-89 season, when Rutgers
went from seven wins the year before to the NCAA tournament the next. That was
a team where everyone knew their roles, everyone knew what the "pecking
order" was: Tom Savage would take the most shots, Rick Dadika would take
the next most, and Craig Carter (currently an RU assistant coach) would take
most of what was left. Emory Ward and Anthony Duckett would primarily bang down
low and rebound.
That team would return four starters the following year, graduating only Ward.
It would be joined by two promising freshman, Mike Jones and Donnell Lumpkin.
However, by far the most anticipated and consequential additions that next season
would be Keith Hughes and Earl Duncan, both highly regarded transfers from Syracuse,
who sat out during the turnaround year. The expectations for Rutgers were now
the highest they had been since perhaps their final four year.
Things, however, did not go as planned. Suffice it to say that the new pecking
order needed rearrangement, and that it never did get completely worked out.
So while there is no doubt the Scarlet Knights were a far more talented team
the following year, they were not a better team. In fact, they weren't even
as good. Despite the suddenly high expectations (Street & Smith's had RU
at #20 in their preseason poll), they actually took a step back the following
year, only making the NIT.
Although the comparison is far from exact, the current Scarlet Knights squad
has had transitions as well. A core group of returning players, all upperclassmen,
has had to meld together and adjust with four freshmen, two of whom - Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn - came to RU with a considerable amount of hype (especially
Chandler). Players, even at this relatively young age, have egos, particularly
in this era of year-round basketball and the internet, where they can emerge
as "stars" as early as the 8th or 9th grade (not that any current
Rutgers player ever received that kind of attention).
Perhaps the single biggest impetus for change this year had been the losing.
After being practically laughed off the court up at the Carrier Dome (and you
know it's gotten out of hand when the other team just starts running alley-oops
on every possession), the young men on this team took a good hard look at themselves,
and came to the extremely worthwhile realization that they way they had been
doing things was not working. It was time for a change, and they were ready
to make it.

Anthony Farmer has probably been the biggest factor in this. He has basically
said, "Look, I'm a three year starter, I know what I can do, and I'm not
going to settle for this". Leadership is indeed an indispensable quality.
JR Inman has responded to some extremely harsh criticisms (much of it unfair),
and realized just how many ways he can help this team aside from scoring. Players
his size that possess his agility, athleticism, and lateral movement don't come
along too often (particularly in an RU uniform), and his don't-show-up-in-the-box-score
contributions on defense have been critically important.Jaron Griffin has recovered from a nightmarish start to become a veritable model
of efficiency of late. His ability to persevere and come through an incredibly
difficult stretch is emblematic of this team. Byron Joynes meanwhile has quietly
kept choppin' (sorry, it just fit) and is now having an impact, and if you still
doubt it, just ask DeJuan Blair and the rest of the Pitt frontcourt. Hamady
continues to get better and better and better. Before he was just a tall guy
that took up basketball - now he's a basketball player.
Then there's Mike Coburn and Corey Chandler. As incomprehensible as it may have
seemed before (particularly to yours truly), there was actually a silver lining
to Chandler's injury: it enabled Coburn to get more minutes as a starter. Coburn
has clearly settled down and settled in, and the reigning Big East Rookie of
the Week now suddenly appears a force to be reckoned with. His ability to handle
the point and mesh with Farmer is what that chemistry thing is all about. Chandler
meanwhile continues to recover and get better and make vital contributions while
now coming off the bench (Once again it's that chemistry thing).
All things considered, it might be wise for RU fans not to get overly excited
about this recent turn of events. Once again, no exact comparison is intended
between this team and the '88-'89 squad, and it is no way suggested that this
team will win the Big East tournament and make the NCAA's the way that team
won the A-10 tourny and made it. This team needs to first show it can even make
the tournament this year. Each game will of course reveal a lot, and Wednesday's
blood feud at home with Seton Hall (a team with many similarities internally
to RU), will be telling. Should RU pull that one out, however, and even this
writer will acknowledge that a corner has been turned.